Fallout 2 was better than Fallout. As for Fallout 3, I actually liked Tactics more, even with the invincible robots that show up in the mid game. I will say this, that as buggy and generally unfinished as games made by any company that employs people that used to work for Black Isle, they are usually very ambitious and extremely fun to play. Also, does anyone else think it's funny that Troika made exactly three games and then died?

H0ncho:...and - gasp - the ability to actually botch a character build.

Honestly, how is this even remotely a good thing? Is it so bad to let people enjoy RPG's who maybe aren't so good at building up a character? Is it so bad to let people build the character they want to build, and not one of the several characters that will be successful?

It is a good thing because it makes character creation meaningful. When all characters have an equally good chance at anything, regardless of stats, the stats lose their meaning. In fallout 3 the stats were made almost meaningless, skill points were the the only thing that mattered (although they didn't matter all that much either) and those were showered on you like rain. Obsidian will hopefully make a system where stats actually matters.